Turmeric Benefits for Migraine

Headaches are part of our fast moving life today. Some are minor but others such as Migraine are severe and badly disturb our lives. According to stats 6 mn Americans suffer from migraine and in every 10 seconds there is one person going into emergency room because of migraine. Migraine is more common in women than in men.

Let us understand about migraine a bit.

Migraine

Migraine is a severe vascular headache experienced by millions all over the world. Women are three times more susceptible to migraines than men. People between the ages of 15 – 55 are more prone to migraines, with over 70% having a family history of the condition (indicating that it is an inherited disease).

There are various factors that can cause a migraine to occur like erratic eating patterns, certain medications used to dilate blood vessels, alteration in sleep patterns, sunlight, excessive exposure to fluorescent or bright lights, excessive TV viewing or noise, stress, depression, certain foods, daily use of headache medications and more.

About 1/5th of migraine sufferers get a prior warning of an attack like visual disturbances, tingling of the face or arm etc. Migraines usually affect one side of the head. It is often characterized by nausea or vomiting, throbbing pulse, intense pain, sensitivity to sound or light etc. The attacks can last from 4-72 hours and even longer in severe cases.

Turmeric for Migraine

Doctors usually diagnose a migraine based on symptoms and history. There are many conventional medications that are used to treat migraines. When I started searching if turmeric can help in migraine, I realized that there is not much research on the benefits of turmeric to treat a migraine.

Curcumin, the chemical compound in turmeric, is a potent antioxidant and has been used in Chinese and Indian medicine for centuries to treat anti-inflammatory conditions. Studies have shown that the antioxidant properties of curcumin are able to reduce COX-2 – an inflammatory enzyme. This has benefited the treatment of several inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

There are many nutritional remedies that can benefit migraines. Many doctors may prefer to use them, for when used for long periods, they cause fewer or no side effects, user dependency or rebound headaches like some over-the-counter or prescription medications. Since most migraines affect the right or left side, some studies have been conducted on which nutritional supplements will benefit which type of migraine. For example, calcium, cat’s claw or iron may benefit those with left-side migraines and magnesium, turmeric or zinc may benefit those with right-side migraines.

Usually, migraine sufferers may need to use a trial and error method to determine which supplement benefits them. ½ teaspoon or more of turmeric powder is said to help those with a left-side migraine. One reason a person may contract a migraine is due to a viral infection. In this case, using vitamin supplements like A and C will help both the headache and viral infection. However, sometimes the headache may worsen and this is where turmeric helps for it has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect that when combined with the vitamins can treat both the migraine and viral infection.

Depending on the type of migraine, different herbal remedies can ease the symptoms – e.g. chamomile tea, cinnamon in hot milk or tea can ease tension caused due to a migraine, give better sleep and ease a migraine. Similarly, those with a viral infection can inhale the steam of hot water and turmeric. This can relieve blocked noses and ease symptoms of migraine.

Another benefit of turmeric for headaches / migraine is that it is a natural pain reliever. Thus, rather than taking other painkillers which have severe side effects, if possible taking turmeric may be better. One limitation may be that turmeric may not provide relief as fast as other painkillers do.

Usually anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin and NSAIDs are prescribed for a migraine. Laboratory studies and clinical research have found that turmeric and the phenolics compounds in it have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This is similar to steroid medications like indomethacin. Hence, it has been suggested that turmeric could be used as a supportive treatment for a migraine.

Dosage

Turmeric is available as capsules, tablets, liquid extract or tincture. It is sometimes combined with bromelain to improve its anti-inflammatory effects and absorption levels. The dosage of turmeric supplements depends on the medical condition. The recommended daily dosage of standardized curcumin powder is 400-600mg thrice daily. Please note this dose is not specific to migraine.

Precautions

Turmeric consumed within the recommended dosage does not cause any side effects. Long term and high doses can cause nausea, dizziness, diarrhea or indigestion. Those with gall bladder problems must consult their doctor for turmeric could worsen the condition. Those who need to undergo surgery must avoid turmeric for it could slow blood clotting. Turmeric supplements could stimulate the uterus or cause menstrual bleeding. Hence, pregnant and breastfeeding women must avoid it. Check with your doctor before taking turmeric supplements for it could interact with certain drugs.

22 Comments

hi, it is not Turmeric that is efficient when migraines occur, but a concentration of its active principle , curcumin. You should use a concentrated Curcumin SOLVENT-free, NANO-free and ADDITIVES-free EXTRACT providing at minima 300 mg curcumin each capsule. Be aware that most of capsules in the USA do contain chemical additives and harmful solvents residues. If you want a solvent-free extract and nano-free extract, please let’s check it is written as a guarantee on the labels … with no additive inside the capsules ( as silica dioxid that is a harmful additive for brain or Titanium oxid that is also a poison for brain ) … unfortunately , nobody is aware of such additives harmful effects. Moreover, most people believe that just using turmeric powder could have any effect when we should know that 20 g dry turmeric are required ( 200 g fresh) to get 600 mg of active curcumin.

It might be that you are intollerant of turmeric and the headaches are your symptom that you can’t have it. I can’t have turmeric at all. For me my symptom is that I break out badly with it. To find out you can either do a trial with it several times or just find a good natropath and get tested for intollerances. I went to a natropath and found out mine (I can’t have dairy or turmeric and can’t do a combo of fruit and processed sugar in the same day). Avoiding them has made a HUGE difference for me in how I feel.

I have been diagnosed with cluster headache. I had always thought it was migraine as it had the just about the same symptoms. I am at the point of over dosing on aspirins and panadols as triptan and other forms of pills don’t seem to help. A friend told me about turmeric and am willing to try just about anything! The pain is on the right side of the head. Which one should I try though? Help!

I have cluster headaches…usually at the base of my skull or on the right side. Today, the doctor I work for told me to try turmeric in hot water. He is from India. I mixed about 1/2 tsp in 8 ounces of water heated in the coffee maker. At his suggestion, I added about 1 tsp of honey. MUCH to my surprise, my headache was gone within 30 mins of drinking the mixture.
The honey did help with the taste and you really have to get past the orange/mustard color–but it’s all natural and worked quicker than any RX I’ve tried lately.

I have had Migrains for some 12 years, from fairly light to increasing over the years to stretches of 4/6 days at a time, the only releif was IMIGRAN to relieve it..and it did but the only problem was my GP would only give me 6 tablets a month..no where near enough. from an article in the daily paper I saw Turmeric ..Arthritis and Migrain. I had to give it a go. it turned out amazing as I was told my Migrains were attributed to my arthritis and straight away my first usage in mid march my Migraines and my Arthritis have gone..now in July and still pain free. M y recipe is 1 mug of full fat milk into a pan and start to heat up and stir in 1 level teaspoon of Turmeric, an eigth of a teaspoon of Black Pepper and 1 teaspoon of runny honey ( for taste). That I drink straight after my breakfast. (it has to be with the meal so as the fats can be absorbed). You can add more of the Turmeric and Black pepper as you see fit, just think of your tummy, if you have Acid Reflux and taking Lanzoprozole or similar, you would need to stop the medication or vice versa.
Hope it works for you as it has done for me…drink well !!!

migraine is almost always on only one side of your head. mine almost always on the right side by about 9/10 times. a headache not isolated to one side is some other kind of headache. but as long as a week— see a doc.

You stated that “magnesium, turmeric or zinc may benefit those with right-side migraines.” and then in the next paragraph “½ teaspoon or more of turmeric powder is said to help those with a left-side migraine”. So does curcumin help the right or left side type of migraines? Also, can you tell me your source? Thanks.

you cannot ingest enough magnesium to help with migraines, according to my neurologists, but take it by IV in the hospital and it helps, or at least it did help me along with DHE. don’t try to take mag in capsules as a migraine treatment, you have to take so many it will cause a ton of internal problems.

Like us and Remain Updated!

Arthritis is a medical condition characterized by swollen and painful joints. It affects children as well as adults irrespective of age. There are many types of arthritis; some common ones are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, infectious arthritis, gout etc. The common features of this disease include: Stiffness of joints Muscle ache and pain Inability to use the limb Fatigue Loss of flexibility Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are the two common forms […]

Turmeric is one such herb that the more you get to know about it the more it leaves you amazed. Curcumin is its biologically most important molecule and offers it the brilliant yellow color. Turmeric is mainly used as a spice but traditional systems of medicine use it as a cure for all. One of its most important pharmacological activities is turmeric’s anti-cancer property. We have already covered this in […]

I am very excited to write about this dish, guess why? Because it is super yum and super nutritious! Well first let me be very honest, when I first came across the name of this dish, all that I could think of was some kind of Chinese therapy, well “Healing Bowls” it is. So for the benefit of those of you not up to date with the latest terminologies of […]

Gout affects the joints and is a type of arthritis which occurs when there is an excess buildup of uric acid in the body. This causes formation of crystals on the joints which leads to inflammation. Uric acid is a waste product that is made in our body and normally it dissolves in blood and excreted by the kidneys. However at times uric acid levels are too high in the […]

Sexually transmitted diseases are infections transferred due to unsafe sexual practices. Bacteria, viruses and parasites cause STDs. Some STDs can be transferred through non sexual activities, eg: HIV can be transferred from mother to child during pregnancy. Sexually transmitted infections are transferred through the mucous membranes of the genitals, mouth, respiratory tract and eyes. Mainly they are transferred via body fluids and can also be spread by skin contact. STDs […]

Okay, so lately there has been lot of confusion on how much turmeric one can take in a day and how many times one should take it. The primary reason for the confusion on “how much” arises from the fact that one can take turmeric (and thus its active ingredient) in so many ways: Fresh turmeric root Turmeric dried root powder Supplement with various % of curcumin present Fluid extract […]

The oldest memory I have of using turmeric is that of taking it with milk. So here I discuss how turmeric when used with milk can be beneficial for various health problems and some common ways of preparing your turmeric milk. Turmeric milk benefits Turmeric has been used as a spice in Indian recipes and as Ayurvedic medicine for many thousands of years. Turmeric offers many health benefits since it […]

Turmeric paste is also popularly known as “GOLDEN PASTE” and the reason is obvious why. There are so many recipes available to make golden paste. The paste can prove to be super useful for both pets and humans. What is needed for making golden paste 1/2 cup turmeric powder (125 mls) – Use organic powder. Here are some tips to buy a good one> 1 cup water (250 mls) 1/2 […]

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you would already know that turmeric or curcuma longa has been used as a spice for centuries in Asian cuisine and is widely cultivated in India. Curcumin and other curcuminoids (key which are chemical compounds in turmeric) offer numerous health benefits since they are powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial agents. It is a popular ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine. Today, turmeric […]

Facial masks are available in various styles and types. You get peel-off masks, clay or cream masks. Face masks are applied to cleaned and dried skin and left for a few minutes until it completely dries off before rinsing it. There are commercially available masks with diverse ingredients and meant for different types of skin. You can also make your own face masks using ingredients found at home. Home facial […]

Disclaimer

The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. The material appearing on the website is for educational use only.

Earnings Disclaimer

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Mission

Mission behind "Turmeric for Health" is to spread awareness about turmeric and its benefits to people across the globe

Why are there Ads on the portal?

Turmeric for Health participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates and Adsense program to provide means to cover costs associated with running this portal. This ensues that the portal remains free for everyone, always.

Contact me

In case you would like to get in touch with me, please email me at info [at] turmericforhealth [.] com directly.